Egg predation and parasite prevalence in the invasive freshwater snail, Melanoides tuberculata (Müller, 1774) in a west Texas spring system

Abstract

Melanoides tuberculata Muller, 1774 (Thiaridae), a freshwater prosobranch snail native to regions of Asia and Africa, was introduced into the U.S. in the 1960s and is now found in fifteen states. Melanoides tuberculata can affect native communities directly by displacing native snail species and indirectly by introducing foreign trematodes into novel environments. As the exact mechanisms of displacement of native snails by M. tuberculata are unknown, egg predation rates on native snails (Physella spp.) by two different size classes (>30 mm and 30 mm were found to consume Physella spp. and only 2.8% of M. tuberculata snails consumed egg masses. None of the M. tuberculata collected from Diamond Y Spring were found to be infected with C. formosanus.